Feeding mechanism



Aug. 4, 1931. w. E. REED 1,817,099

FEEDNG MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 13, 1924 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 merrie WILLIAM EDGAR REED, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA FEEDING MECHAN ISM Original application filedl August 13,4 1324, Serial No` My invention relates to feeding mechanisms, and is hereinafter described as employed. more particularly in the feed-ing of wires or rods to a carrier, but it is susceptible of use in the feeding or transferring of vari- H ous other articles.

The invention constitutes a division of the disclosure contained in my application upon which Patent No. 1,594,081 of December 4,

o 1928, is based.

@ne object of my invention is to provide means for advancing said fires or rods, singly or in groups, in a desired alinement.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device which will transfer articles, one by one, in an improved manner.

Another object of my invention is to pro'- vide an improved form of mechanism for effecting engagement and disengagement of a.

e3 transfer device with articles which are to be transferred.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a transfer device of generally improved and simplified form.

121i ne form which the invention may take is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the feeding device, and also showing a fragmentary portion of a. carrier for receiving the ar- :ji ticles that are fed or transferred; Fig. 2 is an elevational sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of Fig, 1, on a reduced scale.

ab Only so much of the mechanism of my said patent is herein shown as is necessary to an understanding of the present invention. The apparatus is shown as supplying stay wires to a conveyer composed of chains 11 which carry Vr anvil bars 5 that in turn support electrode bars 6, in case the invention is to be employed in connection with a welding machine similar to that shown in my said patent.

The wires to be transferred to and carried fg by the conveyer are represented by the numeral These wires or rods are supplied in any suitable manner to a stationary guideway composed of upper and lower rails 9 and 10 respectively, (in xany suitable manner). Yieldable fingers 11 serve to limit the advan 731,831. Divided and' this application fried December Serial No. 323,539.

ing movementof the wires 7 along the guideV ways, suchy fingers yielding to permit wiresbe removed by the pick-up mechanism or carrier arms, as hereinafter described.

In feeding wires or rods, two or more car# rier arms will usually be employed in order to insure that both ends of the wires are prop'- erly advanced, the two carrier arms being disposed as shown in Fig.v 3. A description of one o-f the carrier arms willv suiiice for both'.

The' carrier arms 12 are rigidly mounted upon a rock shaft 13v which; may be oscillated in any suitable manner, in timed relation to the movement of the conveyer 4,; so that' the wires 7 will be deposited at the' proper points upon the moving conveyor.

Each carrier or rocker arm 12 supports a plunger 14k that is yieldably held' in itsl uppermost position by means of a compression spring 15,A whose upper end engages? a pin 16 which extends through the plunger',l and whoselower end seats upon the web 17 of the arm 12. A roller 18 is ouriialfled in the` lower end of the plu-nger 14, so as to draw the plungerv downwa-rdflg,7 when the armv 12vvv is swung forward to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fi'g.- 1, the rolfler in such position engaging a cam member 19' to effect downward movement thereof.

Upon downward or retract'ive movement of the plunger 14., it is latched in said posi.- tion by means of a latch m'einber 21 that is biased toward latching position by means of a. lever 22 and' spring 23, the lever 22 being pivoted at 24.4 to the arm 12, and the spring 23 serving to bias it inl a. clockwise direction', to pull the latch 21 into anot'ch 25 in thel plunger 14.

The cycle of operations, conimencing'with the parts in the positions shown inv full line' in Fig. 1f, is folloivs1-Tl1e shaft 13Y is rocked tol swing thel upperv end of the arm 12 in a yccunt-erlclockwise direction; thus carrying vthe foremost wire 7 into' position against the carrier, the forward endl of the' guid'eway 10v exerting al ca mining action tio Withdraw tlie'wire' from bei veent'lie plunger 14 and the lever' 22'. Du ng' zhis feeding movement, tliecalm roller il 'isi "aw'n down-f wardly by the @am memberirui r11-alarm 21 permitted to engage the notch 25 and hold the plunger 14 in retracted position.

'Ihe shaft 13 will then be rocked in a clockwise direction until the upper end of the lever 22 engages the foremost sta-y wire, whereupon it will beV rocked against the compression of the spring 23, thus releasing the plunger 14 and permitting it to spring up into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The wire thereby engaged may then be advanced to the conveyer 1, as above explained.

` In order to adjust the device for wires of various thickness,.and to insure tripping and unlaftching of the plunger at the proper instant, I provide an adjustable stop screw 26 in the upper endof the lever 22, this screw serving to engage the wires, instead of having the wires directly lengaged by the lever. The spring 28 not only serves to effect automaticmovement of the latch 21, but also serves as a yieldable means for permitting the lever 22 to adapt itself to wires of varying thickness. i

It vmay be desirable to advance two or more wires at one time, and in order to accomp-lish this the stop screw 26 is suitably adjusted so that the plunger will not be released until it has been carried past the desired number of wires.

I claim as my invention:

1. A feeding device, comprising an oscillatory member, a movable stop carried thereby in position to engage-an article tobefed, a plunger adjacentto. but spaced from said stop, and means for releasably holding said plunger in retracted position, the said means b'cing actuated by movement of said stop when brought into engagement with the article, to release said plunger and permit it to move into position adjacent tothe opposite side'of said article.

2. A ydevice for feeding bars and the like, comprising a reciprocatory member, a pivoted stop carried thereby, a latch connected to said stop, a plunger mounted adjacent to said stop in position to be moved into engagement with the opposite side of a bar engaged by said stop, and means for yieldingly holding said plunger in one position, the said latchnormally serving to hold said plunger against said yielding means, but disengageable therefrom upon'movement of said stop in one direction.

3. A feeding device for bars and the like,

comprising a reciprocal member, ya movable stop carri-ed thereby,va plunger carried thereby, and means effective'upon engagement of the stop with one side of a bar for causing the plunger to be moved into engagement with the' opposite side of said bar.

l. A'feedmg device comprising a carrier,

a stop member, a linger for effecting a feedmgoperation, means placing the linger under sprintft tension upon movement ofthe carrier,

- andlmeans operable upon engagement of the stop member with an article to be fed, for releasing the linger.

5. A feeding device comprising a carrier, a pair of gripping members on said carrier, one of said members being in the form of a pointed` finger to permit movement thereof longitudinallw into position between two articlesvto separate them, and means operated through movement of the carrier to move the last-named finger longitudinally of itself, the said linger member whenv projected between two articles being in cooperative gripping relation to the other gripping member.

y6. A feeding device comprising a reciprocably-mounted member, means vfor supporting articles in proximity to said member yin a position from which they are to be advanced, a device on said memberpositioned to engage the foremost article upon retractive movement of the member, and means controlled vby said device and operable upon contact of the device with an article, to effect engagement with tri-e article and advance the article during, advance movement of the said member. c

7. A feeding device comprising a reciprocably-mounted member, means on said member for engaging an article to advance the same, during advance movement of the said member, and a device on said member positioned to engage an articlevupon retractive movement of the member, and thereby control movement of the said means into articleengaging position.

In testimony whereof I, the said WILLIAM EDGAR REED, have hereunto set my hand.

' VILLIAM EDGAR REED.

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